erik's spring cup

headed up to minnesota for the first race in the mnscs points series this weekend. erik's spring cup used to be held at buck hill, a ski area that was a pretty fun course. it has since moved to inver grove heights and is now made up of a 5 mile loop that has virtually no climbing, is super dry and sketchy and crazy fast. this was my first ever try at riding with the pro/expert class in minnesota. i finished around mid-pack and i'm fairly content with that. a couple of years ago the experts were the people racing sometime after i had my medal (hopefully) and was already headed home. i never thought i'd be in the same league with these guys so just racing in this class feels pretty good. i learned a lot at this race, made some mistakes, lost a couple minutes trying to get help for a rider than tried to chop down a tree with his neck at 20 mph right in front of me, and had a pretty good time. ran into zach and steve who also ride for vassago. both have jumped up a class this year after dominating their class last year. switched out to a flat bar/ergon setup and i'm really liking it. more on that when i've got more time on them. rode most of the race without a front brake after puking all the hydraulic fluid out at the caliper. seriously considering bb7 mechanicals. 2 highlights of the trip...getting to hang out with colin and larsson's first race. colin lives up in the cities and made his way over for the race. got to hang out a bit before and after the race and grab some mexican food and a beer after. it was awesome to hang out and discuss the possibility of some really stupid future plans. we brought larsson's bike with just in case he decided he wanted to do the kids race. as soon as we got there he knew for sure he did. so he got a number plate and lined up at the start...and his face was all business. it was about a quarter mile loop in the grass around a baseball field and he had a blast. he wanted no help from julie or i and he was determined to do it alone. dude rocked it. that was worth the price of my entry fee. i could have packed up and left without doing my race and been completely thrilled that we made the trip. some pics below from one camera, more later when i get some off the other one.

getting ready

race face

not sure who's more proud...racer or mom

hanging out with colin post race